Thursday, August 07, 2014

Haiti, Poverty, Corruption, Culture, Voodoo

I've always been struck by the stark difference between Haiti and the Dominican Republic on the very same island, and naturally wonder "why". This is a rather academic little column that doesn't reach a real conclusion -- to the extent it does, it is "corruption' and possibly "early exit from colonialism".

I'm not going to go do the research this AM on specifics, but I believe that the history of Haiti is French Pirates, French overlords, lots of slaves, Voodoo, and being the first black republic at like 1800.

I'm a big believer in CULTURE being the big determinant, with RELIGION being the main determinant of that. I'm of the opinion that Voodoo is a poor base for a culture!